Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)

Kirk Douglas is Matt Morgan, marshal of Pawley, telling stories to youngsters about the old days before the town was tamed when his son rides in on a strange horse. Something terrible has happened to his wife.

Morgan rides to the spot where it happened and finds his Indian wife dead. She’s also been raped. The two men who accosted her are gone.

But he has two clues: She caught one on the cheek with her lash, leaving a deep cut. And Morgan is familiar with the saddle on the horse his son was riding: It belongs to Craig Beldon (Anthony Quinn), an old friend and now cattle baron in Gun Hill.

So off to Gun Hill goes Morgan, intent on bringing his wife’s killers to justice. When he returns the saddle to Beldon, he learns that it was borrowed by Beldon’s son Rick (Earl Holliman) for a jaunt to town with his buddy, Lee. They told Beldon their horses were stolen when they were having a drink in Pawley.

Morgan gets suspicious. No one reported the theft of two horses in Pawley, let alone a prized saddle.

And he suspects the killer with a cut on his face might be Beldon’s son.

Problem is, bringing him to justice in Gun Hill won’t be easy. It’s a town run by Beldon, and those who defy him typically wind up in boot hill.

Review:

A well-done, well-paced, suspenseful film with Douglas and Quinn turning in the fine performances you’d expect and a very nice supporting role for Earl Holliman as Beldon’s son, a young man who acts tough but can’t quite live up to his father’s expectations.

The most curious role is played by Carolyn Jones as Linda, Beldon’s woman. She clearly loves the man, though he’s just put her in the hospital with a beating inflicted because of sordid tales told by his son. She clearly cannot stand the son. So she helps the marshal she feels sorry for, even though she knows losing Rick could destroy Rick Beldon.

Among the many effective scenes is the one in which Marshal Morgan explains the slow, white man’s justice — the path to the hangman’s rope — to young Rick Beldon.

Directed by:
John Sturges

Cast:
Kirk Douglas … Marshal Matt Morgan
Anthony Quinn … Craig Beldon
Carolyn Jones … Linda
Earl Holliman … Rick Beldon
Brad Dexter … Beero
Brian Hutton … Lee Smithers
Ziva Rodann … Catherine Moran
Bing Russell … Skag
Val Avery … Steve (bartender)
Walter Sande .. Sheriff Bartlett

Runtime: 95 min.

Memorable lines:

Catherine’s father: “You kill him. Kill him slow. The Indian way.”
Matt Morgan: “I’ll kill him. My own way.”

Bartlett, deputy in Gun Hill: “A lawman’s got to take the long view. Far as I’m concerned, you can go out there on the street and get yourself killed any time you want to. You know something — 40 years from now, the weeds will grow just as pretty on my grave as they will on yours. Nobdy will even remember that I was yellow, or you died like a fool. That’s your long view, son. Always take the long view.”
Matt Morgan: “I got two warrants, and I’m going to serve them. I’m leaving town with two men. And the long view is this: Don’t try to stop me.”

Matt Morgan: “Isn’t there anybody in this town who’s not afraid of Craig Beldon?”
Bartender: “Sure. Graveyard’s full of them.”

Man in bar: “You look a little lonesome, missy.”
Linda: “I haven’t been lonesome since I was 12 years old.”

Lars Henderson as Petey Morgan, watching his mother attack in Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)

Earl Holliman as Rick Belden, surprised to find himself in Marshal Morgan’s custody in Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)

Carolyn Jones as Linda with Craig Belden (Anthony Quinn), her longtime love in Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)

Anthony Quinn as cattle king Craig Belden, fretting over his son Rick in Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)